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I watched Trump's acceptance speech yesterday. Or rather, I watched some and read/skimmed the transcript of the rest so that I could get to bed quicker. Ditto for Hillary's concession speech.
Trump's speech itself didn't seem that bad. What bothered me the most was the repeated chanting/yelling of "U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!" from the audience. Not just the chanting itself, but the sound of it.
It sounds so mob-like. So unthinking-violent-monster-like. (Though re-watching it today, it doesn't seem quite as bad as it did to me yesterday. Today, the background music raises my hackles instead. OMG. They actually played "You can't always get what you want" at the end of the speech. Apparently Trump played that song at most of his speeches and rallies, even though the Rolling Stones didn't give him permission. What a way to rub it in. Brilliant irony, that's the word)
The implicit message of the "U.S.A." chanting seems to be "We're the best!". Which naturally implies "The rest of you (the rest of the world, etc.) aren't as good!", ie. "The rest of you are inferior". That's what bothers me about it. It's one thing to feel good about yourself/your county. It's another thing to denigrate others, as Trump and many of his followers seem fond of doing.
It also reminds me again of my high school's pep rallies, back in the day. Those were full of the same kind of "We're the best" propaganda/shouting/cheering. I never could identify with that. I never could see why students of one school should feel they were automatically better than students in other schools.
Trump's speech itself didn't seem that bad. What bothered me the most was the repeated chanting/yelling of "U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!" from the audience. Not just the chanting itself, but the sound of it.
It sounds so mob-like. So unthinking-violent-monster-like. (Though re-watching it today, it doesn't seem quite as bad as it did to me yesterday. Today, the background music raises my hackles instead. OMG. They actually played "You can't always get what you want" at the end of the speech. Apparently Trump played that song at most of his speeches and rallies, even though the Rolling Stones didn't give him permission. What a way to rub it in. Brilliant irony, that's the word)
The implicit message of the "U.S.A." chanting seems to be "We're the best!". Which naturally implies "The rest of you (the rest of the world, etc.) aren't as good!", ie. "The rest of you are inferior". That's what bothers me about it. It's one thing to feel good about yourself/your county. It's another thing to denigrate others, as Trump and many of his followers seem fond of doing.
It also reminds me again of my high school's pep rallies, back in the day. Those were full of the same kind of "We're the best" propaganda/shouting/cheering. I never could identify with that. I never could see why students of one school should feel they were automatically better than students in other schools.